Meet “Chip” the $9 Computer!

I was looking at my smartphone the other day and I was thinking just how far technology has come in the last few years. This relatively small device, which fits in the palm of my hand, features incredible computing power, the kind that I would have never thought possible in my younger years. Smartphones aside, it looks like PCs are also being miniaturized thanks to projects such as CHIP, which is an extremely compact and cheap computer, as it costs no more than $9.

The Linux-powered device is considerably cheaper when compared to the Raspberry Pi, and it still packs enough power to support the Chromium browser as well as LibreOffice and some light games. It features 512MB of RAM memory, 4GB of flash storage and a 1GHz Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor with a Mali400 GPU. CHIP also boasts a composite headphone/microphone port, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a USB port. In its cheapest version, the device will not be encased, but its creators over at Next Thing are also working on the PocketCHIP, which is basically a case for the micro-PC.

PocketCHIP has a Kickstarter price of $40 and features a 4.3-inch touchscreen, a full keyboard and a 3,000-mAh battery that’s good for about 5 hours after a full charge. CHIP’s original Kickstarter goal was set at $50,000, but tech enthusiasts have been generous and managed to raise over $2,000,000 for this awesome project. Next Thing plans to begin shipping for the mini-PC in December while the case and other auxiliary adapters are scheduled to become available in May next year.